What Makes You Beautiful
by Marishka12
Summary: "Have you gained weight?" Those four words were like a knife to my chest. I felt an immense amount of pain in my stomach, already feeling the words cutting deep into me. I didn't know it at the time, but it's those four words that would literally almost kill me just three months later. Read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I'm posting this sooner than I expected, but I had some down time, so I thought I would go ahead and at least post the first chapter to this story. And FYI, I've already written this whole story and the sequel to this story, so I know how it all ends. I'll be posting them when I have time and when I want to. And if I know you guys like this. Review and let me know! :)**

**Okay, here it is! Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Victorious. Wish I did though. :(**

Tori's POV

"Have you gained weight?"

Those four words were like a knife to my chest. I felt an immense amount of pain in my stomach, already feeling the words cutting deep into me. I didn't know it at the time, but it's those four words that would literally almost kill me just three months later. A little secret about me: I'm very sensitive when people say something mean to me or about me, except for Jade. I've gotten used to her.

"What?" I asked, my voice going an octave higher than normal.

The girl that I hardly ever talked to shrugged nonchalantly and then said, "I don't know, it's just that when you first came to the school last year, you were super thin, but it seems like you've gotten bigger since then."

My heart dropped to my feet. "I've…I've gotten bigger?" I asked shakily. "But…I always watch what I eat and…I exercise whenever I can." I've always had a thin figure. Why would this girl, who I barely know, ask me if I've gained weight?

"Hmm," she said and nodded towards my hand. I looked at my right hand and saw that I was holding a donut. I'd already taken a few bites out of it. "Obviously you're not watching what you eat today."

I immediately turned around and chunked the donut in the trashcan. I looked back at that girl and gave her a death glare, one that would make Jade proud. "I am now." I mumbled and walked around her, intentionally bumping into her shoulder.

I walked over to my locker and started to unload my bag. I couldn't get those girl's words out of my head.

_Have you gained weight?_

Have I gained weight? Obviously I haven't gained that much weight or my clothes wouldn't be fitting me. I looked down at my skinny jeans and they were a tight fit, but that's how they always were. I moved my leg around a little to test at how tight they were and, by doing that, they seemed tighter than normal. Was that girl right then?

"Hey, Tor, what's up?"

I turned around and saw Andre walking up to me. I softly smiled and said, "Not much," I closed my locker and crossed my arms. "Um…if I ask you a really important question, will you give me your honest answer?"

"Of course," he said. "I would never lie to you."

I sighed shakily. "Do you think that…that I've…gained weight?"

He looked at me like I was insane. "You? Gained weight? Uh, I don't think so. You're a thin girl. Always have been and probably always will be."

Relief washed over me as I said, "You positive?"

"Yes, Tori," he said and looked me up and down. "You look to be the same size as you did on your first day here."

"Okay, good," I said.

"Why do you ask?" he asked. "I didn't think you've ever worried about your weight before."

"I haven't, but…this girl asked me if I've gained weight and…I don't know, it just got me thinking."

His eyes suddenly got very angry and his fists clenched up as if he wanted to punch something. "Someone asked you if you've gained weight?" I nodded. "Who?"

I shrugged. "I don't know; I can't remember her name."

He nodded. "Okay, well…if she talks to you again, tell her to come talk to me, because I have a few things to discuss with her." He said the words "things" a little louder than the other words.

I smiled widely and then leaned forward and gave him a big hug. "Thank you so much, Andre." I whispered.

"For what?" he asked as he hugged me back.

"For always being there," I sighed shakily. "And for being my best friend,"

"You know I'll always be there for you, girl."

We hugged for another moment, but then the bell rang and we pulled apart. I sighed and said, "Let's go to class."

"Fun, fun," he said sarcastically.

I giggled and we walked to our first class together. I took a few deep breathes, trying to calm myself down from those girl's words.

**So…what do you guys think so far? Good? Bad? Remember, review and let me know! :)**


	2. Just the Beginning

**Wow, guys, eight reviews and I just posted it two days ago? Dang, you guys are too good to me! Thank you so much for the lovely reviews! It makes posting this story worthwhile! :)**

**I didn't say this the last chapter, so I'm gonna say it now. This story is going to get a little…intense (that's the best word I can think of). I don't know how girls with anorexia think since I've never suffered through it, but I tried my best to make it as realistic as possible.**

**Alright, guys, enjoy! :)**

**P.S. Are any of you guys following Victoria on twitter? If you are, how are you going about the whole following spree she's supposed to be doing today? I've asked a few times, but so are many other people. And since I got a reply from her on twitter last month and I met her after her first concert, I think I'll just leave it alone. I just wanna know what you guys are doing (if you're asking for a follow or not saying anything at all).**

**Okay, now on to the story! :)**

Tori's POV

I didn't worry about what that girl said to me for the rest of the day. I simply forgot about it. That is, until I got to lunch. I ordered ravioli from the Grub Truck and then went to sit with Andre and Cat at our table. Robbie, (and Rex) Beck, and Jade hadn't arrived yet.

"Hey guys," I said.

Andre waved and Cat smiled. "What did you get?" she asked.

"Ravioli," I said and picked up my fork and started to mix the food up.

"Ooh, I love ravioli!" She clapped her hands. "It's so cheesy and creamy and just so delicious!"

Hearing her say that made me think back to those girl's words from earlier. I told her I watched what I ate, but looking at my food now, I wasn't so sure if I actually did watch what I eat.

I looked down at my cheesy, creamy, calorie-filled ravioli. I slowly put the fork down and pushed my food away. "Tori?" said Andre slowly. I looked up at him. He was staring at me suspiciously. "Why aren't you eating?"

I gulped and fake-smiled. "I'm just not that hungry anymore."

"Tori…" said Andre. Then he mouthed, "You have not gained weight."

I sighed and then pulled my food back up to me. Just then, the rest of the gang showed up to lunch. They all spent the rest of lunch conversing and laughing with each other, but not me. I wasn't paying any attention to them. I cut up my ravioli into a million pieces and would occasionally take a bite. In the end, it looked like I ate quite a bit, but really, I only ate a third of it.

That night for supper, I simply stared at my food for awhile. Then I sighed and said, "Mom, is this healthy?"

"Yeah, of course. Grilled chicken, salad, and whole grain pasta," she answered. "You can't get much healthier than that."

I slightly smiled and then started to cut up my chicken and take small bites. My stomach was growling, so I actually ate everything that was on my plate. Once I finished, I said, "Mom…would there be any way I could start working out more?"

My mom, dad, and Trina all looked at me like I was crazy. "You? Work out?" said Trina in her obnoxious tone of voice. "Why?"

"Maybe because I want to, thank you very much." I said to her. I looked back at my mom. "Well…is there?"

"Uh…well, yeah," she said slowly. "You could go for a little jog; that would help a lot. But…how would you have time? It seems like you're already busy enough with school and other things."

"I can make time." I told her. "I wake up at 6:45 every morning; I could start waking up at 6:00 and go for a thirty minute jog then."

"Tori, you're already tired enough in the mornings." said my dad. "Getting up much earlier and then exercising for thirty minutes would make it worse."

I looked at him odd. "So…you're saying it's bad that I wanna stay in shape?"

"No, no, of course not, sweetie, it's just…you know what? Never mind; if you wanna work out in the mornings, you can," He smiled at me. "Do whatever you need to do."

I smiled back at him. "Thanks Daddy," I don't know why I wanted my parents' permission to exercise, but I guess I thought I did.

The next morning, I woke up at 6:00 and I was absolutely exhausted. I thought back to the day before and everything that had happened. Those girl's words played back in my head.

_Have you gained weight?_

I immediately jumped out of bed and looked at myself in my full body mirror on my wall. Looking at myself, it seemed like I had gained a little bit of weight. I couldn't understand what had happened. I could watch a video of me from a few months back and see how good I looked. I got tears in my eyes wishing I could go back to looking like that.

I put on some shorts and a t-shirt and went downstairs. My dad was in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee. "I'm going for a run." I mumbled and walked out the door before he could say anything.

Stepping outside, I realized it was pretty cool out. I looked down at my body and then looked at the horizon. I sighed and, getting over the coolness, I ran off of the porch and out on the street.

I jogged at a steady pace for close to thirty minutes. I was getting very winded and my legs were burning, but I couldn't stop myself from running. What kept me going was knowing that what I was doing was good for me and my health. I put all my focus on that and I also concentrated on my breathing. I breathed deeply and occasionally, I would count my footsteps. I felt like it would help and it did a little, but mainly, I just had to toughen up.

When I got to school later, I was so tired I could hardly walk into school without wanting to fall asleep. My legs were also extremely sore. I was very proud of myself though. When I tried to run any other time, I would just give up because it got to hurting too much. This time, though, I didn't let myself rest even once. When I was done running, I felt so accomplished. I told my dad about how proud I was of myself and he said, "That's good, baby. It's good to have that feeling of accomplishment."

My thoughts were interrupted by Andre. "Whoa, Tori, you look like you've been hit by a truck or something,"

"Shut up," I said with a groan. "I didn't see you jogging this morning."

He raised his eyebrows. "You jogged this morning?" I nodded. "Why?"

I shrugged. "Uh, well…no reason. I just wanna stay in shape."

"Mhmm," he said and crossed his arms. "So this has nothing to do with what that girl said to you yesterday?"

"What? No, no…no, uh…it doesn't." I said. I didn't sound that convincing since I was stuttering quite a bit. "It's just…I feel like…I don't know how it is. It's just…I wanna stay in shape. It's good to stay healthy. I'm determined to be healthy."

He nodded. "Did you eat supper last night and breakfast this morning?"

"Yes," I told him and I wasn't lying.

"Just make sure you stay healthy, okay?"

I gulped and nodded. "Okay,"

"Do you promise me?"

I softly smiled and nodded. Even at the time, I had a feeling that it would be a promise I would most likely break, which was why I regretted smiling and nodding at the time. I was too concerned about my sore legs and worrying about my jogging the next morning to care.


	3. Bad Habits

**Wow! I just wanna say thank you so much for all the nice reviews to this story! I can't believe I went from 8 reviews to 26 reviews in just like two days. That's crazy! It makes me so happy to know that you guys are enjoying this! :)**

**Story time! Enjoy! (From here on out, it's about to get really intense.)**

Tori's POV

The next few weeks, all I could think about was working out every single morning. My eating hadn't really changed. I generally ate what I always did. I got to where my legs didn't burn while running and I wasn't sore anymore after a week or so. After jogging every morning for a few days, my legs were so sore that every step I took caused me to practically moan and groan.

"Vega, would you shut up?" Jade exclaimed when I walked into school doing that one morning.

I groaned in response. "How about you shut up?"

"How about you watch what you say?"

I glared at her. "Please, Jade, I don't wanna get in a fight with you today. I'm just so sore from all that running I've been doing and I'm so tired." Oh yeah, I'd also been exhausted. I still wasn't used to my waking up 45 minutes earlier than normal. I fell asleep in some of my most boring classes.

She eyed me up and down. "Why the heck are you exercising in the morning? You look like you could use a cheeseburger or two."

No matter what anyone said to me, I wasn't convinced otherwise. I simply sighed and said, "Maybe because I want to, okay? Now, please, just get off my back."

After a few weeks of running every morning, I finally decided it was time to weigh myself. I have my own weigh scale in my room, so I closed my door, locked it, and then stepped on the scale. My heart dropped realizing that I'd only lost a couple of pounds.

Before I could get too upset, I heard pounding on my door. "Tori, open up!"

I rolled my eyes. Only one person would knock on my door like that. I walked over to my door and threw it open. "What?" I exclaimed in my sister's face.

"What did you do with my shoes?" she practically yelled.

"Trina, I haven't touched your shoes." I told her. "I don't go into your room."

"Well, someone obviously took my shoes and you're the only one that would take them in this house." She crossed her arms. "Give them back!"

"I already told you that I don't have them!" I yelled. "Now go away, I'm busy!" I tried to slam the door in her face, but she pushed the door open with her hand.

"Busy with what?"

"None of your business!" I yelled.

She pushed my door open and walked in my room. She looked at my weight scale and then at me. She did that for a few times before walking to my bed and sitting down. "Okay…talk. What's up?"

"Nothing," I said quickly.

"Come on, Tori…you've been jogging every morning for the past few weeks and then I come in here and see a weight scale in your room. Start talking,"

I sighed. "Fine…I'm trying to lose some weight."

"Why?"

"Just because," I said. "And I thought I already told you that I wanted to lose weight. Why are you so shocked?"

"I don't know; I guess I forgot you told me." she muttered. "But seriously…why are you doing this?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't, it's just…if you really wanna lose some weight, why not you try watching what you eat?"

"I do watch what I eat." I said immediately.

"Yeah, obviously not enough," she said and stood up. "Look, I know what I'm talking about. If you're serious about this weight loss, then you've got to start eating healthier and maybe even cut down on a few calories."

I hesitated for a moment, thinking, and then said, "You think that'll work?"

"I'm sure it will." she said and stood up. "Good luck," Just before she walked out, she said, "Oh, but just a warning…don't cut off too much food. That could be really bad." Then she walked out of my room. Trina confused me in so many ways. One second, she was in here yelling at me because she thought I had her shoes and the next second, she was giving me advice on how to lose weight. I will never understand that girl.

I took Trina's advice and along with jogging every morning, I started eating like a health freak. I made sure every single meal was super healthy and I found myself thinking about what healthy thing I would have for my next meal. My meals usually consisted of salads, extremely healthy sandwiches, grilled chicken, and lots of fruits and vegetables. I was also getting to where I talked about all these healthy things I ate. I felt like I was annoying my friends, but I guess I didn't care enough to stop.

I could tell they were annoyed because they simply nodded and smiled when I talked about the food I ate. The only one that acknowledged their annoyance was Jade. "Okay, Tori, we get it!" she snapped one day at lunch. "We know that you've been eating healthy for weeks now. So just shut up. We don't care."

I slightly rolled my eyes and then looked at the faces of all of my friends. They were looking down, avoiding my face. "Have I really been that annoying?" I asked.

Most of them continued to look down except for Andre and Cat. Cat just smiled her sweet smile at me and then Andre said, "Well…you have been talking about it a lot lately and…it's getting…a little old."

"Uh huh," I said.

"But no offense,"

I smiled a big fake smile. "Yeah, well…some taken," I grabbed my bag and walked away. I headed in the school and walked over to my locker. I began to grab some of my stuff for my next few classes. Since it would still be awhile before the bell rang, I decided I would just go wait in the library.

Just as I closed my locker, Andre walked up to me. "Hey Tor," he said gently.

"Don't," I snapped at him. "Don't come talk to me when you know I'm mad at you."

He sighed heavily. "Tori, I'm sorry, okay? Maybe…maybe we were being a little insensitive." He softly smiled. "Can you forgive us?"

I just stared at him for a moment. "I might forgive you, but not everyone else unless they say their sorry."

"They are sorry." he said. "We feel bad that we made you sad, but…"

I groaned. "I hate it when you say but at the end of a statement."

He smiled, ignoring me. "But…it's just…maybe it would be good if you didn't talk about what you eat so much. We know that you're on some of kind of diet that I don't even know why you're on and that it's important to you, but…maybe you could…not talk about it as much. We're sorry we offended you today, but I just ask that you stop talking about food so much. Eat healthy, if you feel like you have to, and move on. It doesn't really matter."

"Okay," I said. "I'm…I'm sorry for being so annoying, it's just…it's important to me."

"I know that." he said gently. "And I'm not saying you can't talk about it at all. Just don't make it the only thing you talk about, okay?"

I smiled and nodded. "You're the only one who understands me."

He shrugged and said, "That's why we're best friends." But then he cleared his throat and said, "So…since we're talking about it…is this a diet that you're on?"

"Kinda," I said with a sigh. "I just wanna be healthy."

He looked down at my body. "Well…you look pretty healthy to me."

"Thanks, Andre," I told him. "I'm just trying so hard."

"And you seem to be doing a really good job."

I smiled at him. "Well…thanks again, Andre,"

"No problem," he said. "So how about we go back to lunch? Your food is still at the table and we don't know what to do with it."

I giggled. "Well, how about I just finish my food?"

"I'd say yes!" he said and then we headed out of the school and went back outside. We walked over to the table and sat down. I apologized to all of my friends about how annoying I'd been and they forgave me. All except for Jade, but Beck gave her a little glare and she sighed and forgave me. I gave Beck a smile as a thanks. I loved that Beck could get Jade to do anything he wanted.

I ended up taking Andre's advice and I stopped talking about food as much. I still did occasionally, but it wasn't near as much as I did before. I just had some kind of obsession with jogging and eating super-duper healthy and even though I wasn't obsessed with talking about it, I still made sure my friends and family aware of this. For some reason though, I don't think they liked that I was still eating like a health freak and exercising daily. I would get weird looks whenever I did bring it up. I simply shrugged it off. That's all I could really do.


	4. Munchies

**Once again, thank you guys for all the nice reviews! They really, really make me happy! So please keep them coming! :)**

**Also, since this chapter is short, I'll be posting the next chapter either tonight or in the morning and chapter 5 is longer, so…yeah.**

**Anyway, enjoy! :)**

Tori's POV

Along with my super-duper healthy eating and constant exercise, I stopped eating all those munchies. You know, like potato chips, popcorn, and candies. I used to eat stuff like that all the time, but ever since I realized that there was a lot of fat, calories, and sugar in those nonsense snacks, I decided to stop eating them. It was kind of a bummer since Andre and Cat came over nearly every Friday for a movie night…with popcorn and chips and, sometimes, even candy.

"You don't want popcorn?" asked Andre when I first told him and Cat that I was taking the munchies out of my diet.

I shook my head. "No,"

"But why?" asked Cat. "You always eat it when we have movie night!"

"I know, it's just…since I'm on this diet, I've decided to stop eating those munchies." I told them. "I'm sorry; I'm just trying to be healthy."

"Oh, come on, Tori," said Andre with a smile and he picked up a piece of popcorn. He threw it up in the air and caught it in his mouth. Cat giggled in the process. "This popcorn is so good."

I glared at Andre. "Don't mock me."

"I'm not," he said laughing and then grabbed some more. He threw them in the air one by one and would catch them in his mouth. "Besides, you do know that popcorn is one of the healthiest snacks you can have, right?"

"Well…normally, but…did you see how much butter is in that?"

He popped a few in his mouth and said, "Nope, but it doesn't matter. Popcorn is still really healthy."

"Really?" I said and walked over to the trashcan and found the bag that we used to pop the popcorn in. It was full of butter and salt on the sides. I tore it a little and showed it to Andre and Cat. "Does this look healthy?"

Andre sighed and Cat just smiled. "Okay, maybe not," he said. "But…what difference does it make? You don't need to go on a stupid diet anyway. If you ask me, I think you should go back to the way you were eating before, which was pretty good. And stop working out every single day. It's wearing you out."

I sighed shakily. "You just don't understand."

"Tori, I'm your best friend." he said and gestured towards Cat. "We both are. So we understand what you're going through and we support you one hundred percent." He got up and walked over to me. "But…Tori…you're already skinny. Think about it…I mean, really, really think about it…is this diet really in your best interest? Do you honestly think you need to be on it?"

"Yes," I said immediately. "I think I do."

Andre and Cat looked at each other and then looked back at me in a hopeless way. "Fine," said Andre. "But…" He walked around me and walked to my fridge. He opened it and pulled out a little container of yogurt. "If you're not gonna eat popcorn or chips, at least eat this." He grabbed a spoon from the drawer and brought both items over to me.

I looked at him skeptically. "How did you know where both those things were?"

"Please, Tori," he said with a smile. "I've been to your house a million times now. I know where everything is."

I laughed and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right." I pulled the peeling back from the yogurt and began to slowly eat the yogurt. Andre, Cat, and I went and sat back down and while they ate "munchies," I ate my healthy yogurt. Without them noticing, I glared at them. They should just leave me alone about my eating and exercising habits. It's my life and I have the right to do whatever I want.


	5. Selfimage

**So I know that most of you probably don't care, but I have a funny story to tell you. Last night, my best friend and I saved an itty bitty kitten from my dog, who nearly killed her. We brought the kitty inside and let it sleep in the room with us since my friend was spending the night. So this morning, my dad came home early. Not good. He hates cats. He was like, "Get that thing out of here!" But the only reason we were keeping it was because my friend had another friend who would want it. So we took it to her house, which is where the kitty is now. But my friend and I are going to her house in a little to help take care of the kitty and I'm excited. She's so freaking precious and soooooo little!**

**Haha, so if you actually read all of this, that's so sweet of you!**

**Now onto the real story. Here's chapter 5. Enjoy. :)**

Tori's POV

I eventually got to where I didn't talk about food or exercise at all. I kept all my thoughts to myself. Mainly because I was beginning to eat less and less. I still ate three meals a day, but I ate only about half of what was on my plate each time. Occasionally I wouldn't have enough energy for my morning jogs, so I made myself eat more just so I could have the energy to exercise every morning. It was weird, because even though I was in shape, I got much more winded during my joggings than normal. When I would finish a jog, it was as if I didn't have any energy left in my body.

Ever since my diet, I finally realized all the high-calorie, high-fattening foods that the Grub Truck sold which was why I began to bring my lunch (of very little food) everyday. Each day, I would simply watch my friends eat the food that would one day make them very unhealthy. What made me sick to my stomach was that I ate that exact same food just months prior to this. I never realized how unhealthy the food was until I researched it online and I was amazed at the content that went into that food. The first thing that came to my mind while reading that stuff was "I'm never eating that stuff again."

I never voiced my opinion about it, but one day in particular, I did.

As I was sitting there watching all my friends eat the food that would one make them unhealthy, I heard commotion behind me. I turned around and saw that Sinjin had dropped a slice of pizza on the ground. He bent down and picked it up. He examined it for a second and then took a big bite out of it.

I nearly puked. "Sinjin," I said. "Why don't you just get another piece of pizza?"

"Because I spent money on this one," he said. "And I don't want it to go to waste." He looked at it again and wiped off a few pieces of dirt. "There's only some dust on it. Won't kill me," He took another bite and walked off.

I put my hand over my stomach and looked back at my friends. "That is so disgusting." I said. "How can he eat that after dropping it?"

"Because he's Sinjin," said Beck. "He doesn't care about stuff like that."

"But he should," I said. "I mean…he dropped it on the ground and still ate it. Plus, that pizza is loaded with fat. That will make him very unhealthy someday."

"What are you saying, Vega?" snapped Jade. I suddenly realized she was eating a piece of pizza. "You saying I'm gonna be fat one day?"

"Oh no, of course not, I didn't mean–"

"Then what did you mean, huh?" she exclaimed.

"Jade, I–"

"No, I know what you were saying!" she exclaimed. "You said that eating pizza makes you fat, so apparently, I'm gonna be fat one day! Just because you don't eat this food, Vega, doesn't mean you have to down the foods that we eat! You know, I always–"

"Shut up!" I screamed at her. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Would you please just get off my back? I was just pointing out something about the pizza and you literally jumped down my throat! And, for the record, I was not saying you're gonna get fat, because you most likely won't! Now just shut up!" I looked at all of my friends. "Oh, and for the record, the food you're all eating is in fact very unhealthy! You might wanna cut down on it!"

All my friends were looking at me with shocked expressions, even Jade. While they were staring at me, everyone else sitting in The Asphalt Café was just staring at me. I got up from the table as my cheeks were turning red. I grabbed my bag and ran off to the school.

I didn't go back to lunch and then when the bell rang, I went to my next period class. It wasn't until I was apologizing to them the next day that I realized something: ever since I'd been on my diet, I was snapping at more and more people over the silliest things. I was so moody all the time and I always regretted snapping at people seconds after it happened.

One Saturday morning while I was jogging, I got so out of breath and tired that I had to stop running. I tried to put up with it, but my chest was hurting more than usual and so were both of my sides. It was cold out, so instead of my usual shorts and t-shirt attire, I had on some sweat pants and a sweat shirt. Currently, I felt like I was hot and cold at the same time. Under the heavy clothes, I was drenched in a cold sweat. My hair was also dripping with sweat.

I walked with my hands on my hips, but then I started to get dizzy. I couldn't go anymore, so I stopped and sat down on a curb. I rested my elbows on my knees and buried my head in my hands and waited for this fainting feeling to past. I was so ready to take a nice hot shower and then crawl into my bed and go to sleep.

When it finally passed, I slowly got up and after standing for a minute, I started to jog back to my house. I arrived five minutes later. I stopped running at my porch and then just walked in the house. Both my parents were in the kitchen; my mom was cooking breakfast while my dad was reading the paper with a cup of coffee in his hand. When I closed the door behind me, they both looked over at me. "Hey sweetie," said my dad. "How was your jog?"

"It was fine." I said, but then out of nowhere, my legs gave out and I collapsed to the floor.

I heard my parents running and then they were both instantly at my side. "My gosh, Tori, are you okay?" asked my mom in a worried voice. She rubbed her hand on my back.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." I cleared my throat and sat up with the help of my parents.

"I think you need something to eat." said my dad.

"Yeah, agreed," said my mom.

"Okay, just give me I minute," I told them and then I eventually was able to stand up. My parents stayed right at my side the whole time until I was sitting at the table. Once breakfast was fixed, my mom immediately gave me a plate. I cut it up into a million little pieces and, just like I did when I always ate, I only ate about half my food.

A few days later during supper, my mom looked at me with a serious expression and asked, "Tori, are you okay?"

While pushing my food around my plate, I said, "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, it's just…I'm looking at you right now and…you seem really pale and there are big circles around your eyes." I gulped. I guess my diet had changed my appearance more than I realized. "I think those morning workouts are wearing you out."

I shook my head. "No, Mom. It's…it's nothing. I'm fine,"

"Tori, I…I'm worried about you." She really did look very concerned. "I think you should skip your workout for the next few days until you can get some of your strength back. Remember what happened after Saturday's workout? You passed out."

"Mom, I didn't pass out; I just got really tired and my legs gave out on me."

"Still," she said. "I think you need to take a break."

My heart started pounding really hard. I was finally starting to lose the weight I was wanting and I didn't wanna quit now. I looked down at my food and took a really small bite. "I can't." I whispered.

"What?" said my mom.

"I can't." I said louder and looked up at her. "I'm finally starting to lose the weight that I want. Please don't make me stop."

"Tori, I think that you've lost all the weight that needs to be lost." said my dad. "If you lose much more weight, you could get very unhealthy and we don't want that for you."

"I'm fine, though," I argued. "And there's no way I could lose too much weight. There's still a lot I need to lose. And besides, it's my body. I can do what I want to it."

"Tori, look at yourself," said Trina quietly. "You don't need to lose anymore."

"Trina's right," said my dad. "Just eat healthy and don't worry about working out every morning."

I threw my fork down and jumped up from the table. "None of you understand how this is for me! I wish you would all just bud out and stay out of my business!" I turned around and ran through the living room and up the stairs and to my room.

I slammed my door behind me and leaned my back against the door. I started to breathe heavily as tears appeared in my eyes. Then they started to roll down my cheeks as I let out a few sobs. I looked at my full body mirror and I walked over to it. I lifted up my shirt and turned to the side. I started crying harder seeing myself in the mirror. I still saw some fat on my body. I couldn't believe it. After all this hard work at trying to lose weight, it still didn't wanna leave my body. I hated myself for not working harder.

I eventually put my shirt down and then just fell to the ground still crying. I made a promise to myself right there that I would start to eat even less until I lost the weight I needed to. I decided that I would skip breakfast and then eat only a little for lunch and supper. It was the only way. I had to find some way to raise my self-image.


	6. Bulimia

**OMG, I can't believe I move into my dorm room tomorrow! I'm excited and scared at the same time! I seriously can't believe that I'm done with high school for good! It doesn't even feel real! I'm just ready to see what college has in store for me! :)**

**Okay, done rambling for this chapter, haha. Enjoy!**

**Warning: things get really deep for this chapter!**

Tori's POV

The plan to skip breakfast and only eat lunch and supper turned out to be successful. It was easier to skip breakfast since I could tell people that I didn't have any time in the morning, but lunch and supper was a different story. I sat with my friends at lunch and with my family at supper. I had to eat something so they wouldn't suspect anything was going on. My family was already very suspicious, so I tried really hard to eat a little more around them. My friends didn't seem to take much notice. Or if they did, I didn't pay any attention.

After that day, I started looking at myself in the mirror more and more. It was usually after my morning jog and I would strip down to nothing except for my bra and underwear. Then I would stare at myself in the mirror until I wanted to cry. I didn't understand why I couldn't get the results I wanted. Since I was feeling very insecure about my body (and feeling very cold all the time for some reason), I always wore layers of clothes. I used to dress in happy, bright colors, but I started to wear more dark colors. My hair used to always be down, but I didn't have the energy to mess with it in the mornings, so after my showers, I would just pull it in a ponytail. I could feel people give me really weird looks at school, but I tried hard to ignore it. My friends seemed worried about me, but I didn't pay any attention to it.

One day at lunch while just staring down at my sandwich, Cat said in a worried voice, "Tori? What's wrong?"

I looked up at her confused. "What do you mean?"

She sighed in a way that made her seem nervous. "It's just…you seem really different."

I shrugged and then said in a quiet voice, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Tori, she's right," said Jade. "You've seem to have really changed. It's…kind of scary."

Everyone looked at Jade like she was crazy. "Uh, Jade, I thought you like to see me in pain." I said confused.

"Well…I do,"

I rolled my eyes. "But you just said that I've really changed and that you think it's kind of scary."

"So you admit you've changed?" she said pointing a finger at me.

"No, I didn't say that, I just…" I let out small breath. "Look…it's nothing, okay? Don't worry about me."

"So if it's nothing, eat your entire sandwich." said Andre in a voice that sounded as if he knew something that the others didn't.

"Fine, I will." I said and then ate my sandwich in about five bites. I will admit, it felt amazing to have a full meal, but once I finished, I was so stuffed I felt sick. "Now if you will excuse me, I need to use the restroom." I grabbed my purse and got up from the table and walked to the nearest bathroom. I locked myself in the stall and then put my purse on the hook of the door.

I sighed shakily, nervous for what I was about to do. I let out another long breath and then bent down over the toilet. I stuck my finger in my mouth and touched the back of my throat. It took a few times to hit my gag reflex, but once I did, I threw up the contents of my stomach.

Afterwards, I flushed the toilet and then leaned against the wall. A fainting feeling washed over me and I had to put my head in my hands and wait for the feeling to pass. I was feeling really sick and I just wanted to go home and crawl into bed and go to sleep. But I had to be strong, so I managed to get off the bathroom floor and go to the library, where I waited until the bell rang to go back to class.


	7. Sick

**Okay, this is the chapter where you can tell really that Tori is in a downward spiral. The chapter after this is when she has her final breakdown. I'll try to update that as soon as I can. I'm in my college dorm room right now and preparing for college to start, but classes don't start until August 27, so I've got time. Once school starts, updates may not be as quickly, but I'll try my best!**

**Now onto the chapter!**

Tori's POV

I eventually got to where I didn't eat for days at a time. My stomach always had a very empty feeling, but after a week or two, it went away; either that or I just got used to it, but I think I just got used to it. I didn't have the energy to do anything anymore. I'd still wake up every morning to try and go for my jog, but I didn't have any energy to even do that. I usually didn't get out of bed until 7:30. I barely made it to school on time, so when people asked me why I didn't eat breakfast, I wouldn't be lying when I said that I didn't have time in the mornings.

I began to notice a drastic change in my health. I could just be sitting in class, completely relaxed, and my heart would start beating either extremely fast or extremely slow. It scared me, but it would eventually go back to normal, so I tried not to give it much thought. Another thing I noticed about me was that I bruised really easily. I could barely hit something and I would get a really big bruise that lasted a long time. That was another reason why I wore jeans and long sleeves all the time. And I was very quiet all the time. I don't know why, but I constantly felt depressed. I had no reason to be depressed about anything, but for some reason, I was.

Even though I wasn't eating, I was able to drink as much water as I wanted. Good thing to, because I had a dry mouth at all times it seemed. But no matter how much water I drank, my mouth was always dry. It was really weird. But then again, the more water I drank, the more my stomach felt all bloated and sick.

I got to where I played a game with myself. I would see how long I could go without eating before feeling like I had to pass out. Then when I would want to pass out, I would eat something extremely healthy, usually an apple. If I was anywhere but home, it would be an apple. If I was at home, I would get whatever I could find as long as it was healthy. I hadn't had any junk food in ages.

I was at school one day when that happened. I was in my history class and the fainting feeling got so overwhelming that I just had to jump up from my seat and run out of the class without saying anything to anyone. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, but I didn't care. I just had to get to my locker and get my apple before I passed out. I had yet to pass out and I was planning on keeping it that way.

I walked out to my locker and opened it and pulled out an apple from one of the pockets. I closed my locker and began to walk to the bathrooms as I started to take a few bites out of the apple. Then I heard someone come around the corner. "Tori?"

I looked up and saw Beck. "What do you want?" I mumbled and looked down at my apple and continued to eat it.

"What is going on with you?" he practically demanded.

I was about to answer, but I fell to the ground. I moaned, but still pulled the apple to my mouth and took a bite out of it. "Oh, my God, Tori," he said and got down next to me. He pushed my ponytail out of my face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Beck." I said. "Please go away."

"Tori…" he said worriedly. "Come on, please tell me what's going on with you."

"Nothing is going on with me, Beck, now please stop worrying about me." I tried to stand up, but I was too weak to even do that. I guess Beck could tell, because he got at my side, and helped me stand up. I smiled softly. "Thanks,"

"You're welcome," he said. "Now will you please tell me why you needed help standing up?"

I sighed and ran my hand over my forehead. I was so exhausted and felt like crap. "I'm just tired. I…I've had a lot of homework lately, which means that I've had to stay up late every night."

Beck looked at me unconvinced. He eventually said, "I don't believe you, but…I'm gonna let it slide for now. But I do except a real answer later."

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see," I said and headed to the bathroom and finished my apple. Once I was finished, the fainting feeling was almost gone. I splashed my face with cold water and then went to sit on the pot and a few minutes later, I was better again. I got up and went back to class like it was no big deal.

A few days later, when it was Friday, Andre and Cat came to my house for our movie night. This was the first time they had come over in a few weeks, so it was actually really nice to have them over. We were all sitting in the living room, just chatting and laughing, when a very sickly feeling washed over me. I sighed heavily and said, "I'll be right back." I felt like I had to pass out, but I managed to get to my bathroom without falling to the ground.

Once I got to the bathroom, I closed the door, walked up to the toilet, and threw up. This time, I didn't make myself throw up; it just happened. I had been feeling sick off and on all day since I ate a little something at lunch. This was the first time in a long time that I joined my friends at lunch. Since I didn't like to eat, I would normally go in the library and wait until the end of lunch and go back to class. At first, my friends were really concerned, but I told them that I just had a lot of homework that I was trying to finish. I could tell they didn't believe me, but they still didn't question me for fear of me jumping down their throats. I had a mood swing about once a day. The only reason I joined them that day is because Andre practically forced me.

Once I was done, I flushed the toilet and got up and stood at the sink and rinsed my mouth out with some water. Afterwards, I simply stared at myself in the mirror. I had on my usual baggy clothes, so I couldn't see my body, but I could see the appearance of my face and my hair. My hair used to be shiny and healthy, but it was looking dull and brittle and would fall out in the shower. It was constantly in a ponytail. Then there was my face. My eyes always had these dark circles around them, but I tried to cover them up with makeup and sometimes, it worked, but other times, like today, you could still see the circles no matter how much makeup I applied. My whole face was ghastly pale. I never realized what a mess I looked like; no wonder people were always staring at me. I looked like crap. It was fitting, because, well…I felt like crap.

After I observed my weak self in the mirror for a moment, my eyelids started to get really heavy all of the sudden. I breathed slow and steady for a few moments and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground. Then I involuntarily fell asleep. I was so sleepy and weak that I couldn't help myself.

"Tori?" I heard a familiar voice call out. "Hey, Tor, wake up,"

I moaned for a moment and then slowly blinked open my eyes. I noticed Andre was sitting on the ground next to me. "Tori?" he said again and rubbed his hand on the back of my hair. "Are you okay?"

I groaned loudly and it took all my strength to roll on my back. I looked up at Andre. "Andre?" I mumbled.

"Tori, what's going on with you?" he asked in a concerned voice.

I was about to tell him that I didn't feel good, but I didn't have to. A nauseas feeling hit me again and I pulled myself to the toilet and threw up in it. Andre, being the great friend he is, got behind me and held my hair back. It was in a ponytail, but it was still trying to fall in the toilet. I was actually surprised that I had enough in my stomach to throw anything up.

When I finally recovered, I flushed the toilet and then fell back against Andre and rested my head on his chest. "Oh, Andre," I moaned out. "I feel like crap."

He put his hand on my forehead and then said, "Well, you don't feel hot. Maybe it's just a bug you have."

I could tell Andre that I felt like crap, but what I couldn't tell him was that my feeling like crap had nothing to do with a bug. I was feeling this way because my diet had sucked all the energy from me and made me sick. You'd think that because of this I'd want to stop, but I didn't. I still had to lose some more weight. My body was just weak and in the long run, I knew that this would make it stronger. I just had to push myself.

Even though I knew it wasn't a bug, I still nodded and said, "Yeah, maybe," I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. "Andre, will you do me a big favor?"

"Of course,"

I sighed and said, "Will you please pick me up and put me in my bed? Maybe sleep will help." I hesitated so I could let out a long sigh. I was feeling out of breath. "And then…will you give Cat a ride home?"

He nodded. "I can do all of those things easily." He swiftly put his arms under me and then cradled me out of the bathroom and into my room, laying me on my bed. "Wow, Tori, you're really, really light." he said as he rose up.

I was already half-asleep when he said that, so I just barely mumbled, "Hmm, I don't know."

"Well, you are," he said and then covered me up. He bent down and gave me a light kiss on my cheek. "Goodnight, Tori. I'll see you later."

"Thanks, Andre," I mumbled.

I think I was asleep before he was even out of the room.


	8. Breaking Point

.

**So the reason why I'm updating now is because this is the first break I'll have for probably a few days. It's "welcome week" at my college now and everyone is involved in different activities, for example, I just got back from a HUGE game of twister. I kid you not, the whole gym floor was covered with a twister mats and everyone was playing it and…it was just crazy. But SO much fun! I'm enjoying college life! :)**

**Now onto a different subject…the story. This is one of the biggest chapters of all. Tori hits the breaking point of her illness. But for all you Tandre lovers, I think you're gonna like this chapter. You'll see why…**

Tori's POV

During the next week, my diet came to a crashing end. I was in Sikowitz's class when Cat came running in holding something in her hands. She squealed and said, "Hey, guys, look what I got?"

We all just looked at her for a moment. "What is it?" asked Andre eventually.

"My famous red velvet cupcakes!" she exclaimed and squealed again. "Come on, everyone have one!"

Everyone jumped up and went to get one, but I didn't get up for two reasons: I was feeling really sick at the moment and I wasn't gonna eat that cupcake that was full of calories and fat. I couldn't afford all that fat anyway.

Once everyone sat back down, Cat looked around to make sure everyone got one. She noticed I didn't have one and she said, "Tori, why didn't you get a cupcake?"

I sighed heavily. "I just don't want one."

"Oh, come on, you have to have one!" she said and took a cupcake out of the container. She put down the container and walked up to me still holding the cupcake. "Here, have this one."

I shook my head. "No,"

"Come on, Tori, it's so good!"

I shook my head again. "No, Cat, I don't want it." At this point, everyone in the class was watching us, probably wondering why I would turn down a cupcake.

"Please, Tori," she said with a pleading look in her eyes.

"No," I said with a serious expression. "I don't want that."

"Tori, pretty please," she said, her voice shaking. "I made these for the whole class and I just want you to try it. It's so good; I promise you won't regret it. Just have one bite, that's all–"

"Cat, I don't want that stupid cupcake!" I screamed. "Now just get that disgusting thing out of my face!"

The room went dead silent except for Cat's heart wrenching squeal. She gulped and mumbled, "I'm…I'm sorry…Tori." She looked down and then sat down in her seat. She put the cupcake on the ground and then buried her hands in her head and started to cry.

Jade was sitting next to her and she patted her back. She looked up at me and gave me a look that said, "What's wrong with you?"

I shook my head and in that instant, I started to get dizzy. I blinked a few times then said, "I gotta go." I got up and walked out of the classroom. I walked over to my locker and was about to open it, but the dizziness was overwhelming me. It had never been this bad before. I almost felt like I was in another world I was so dizzy. I leaned my head against my locker and pulled my hands up to my face. I felt like I did when I lost three pints of blood, except ten times worse. I didn't know what was gonna happen if I couldn't get that apple out of my locker and start eating it.

"Tori?" I heard a familiar voice call out, but I didn't respond to it in any way. "Hey, Tori." Then I felt someone pull me away from my locker and I was looking at Andre. I was so dizzy that it looked like he was spinning. "Tori, what's going on with you?" His voice seemed to be coming from miles away.

"Andre…" I slurred out. "I…I need to…"

He gently shook me. "You need to what? Tori, come on, please talk to me."

"My…my locker…in my locker…I need my…" I couldn't say anymore. Then my whole body gave out and I passed out against Andre.

Andre's POV

Tori was talking to me about something referring to her locker and that she needed something in there, but she wasn't able to explain what she needed before her eyes fell in the back of her head and she fell against me with a sigh. It's like I could feel her whole body relax in my arms.

I slowly and gently put her on the ground and looked at her face. Her whole face including her lips were pale white. "Tori, wake up," I said and put my hand on her shoulder. My heart stopped at what I felt. I squeezed a little and felt nothing but bone. I looked at Tori's relaxed face and whispered, "Tori," Then I slowly looked at her arm, but she was wearing a brown hoodie so all I saw was the sleeve. I picked up her arm and rolled her sleeve back. Her wrist and arm looked like that of a skeleton. It took me about a second to realize what was wrong with her.

The only thing that came to my mind was, "I'm gonna strangle the girl who asked if you've gained weight."

I leaned down and put my head against Tori's chest hoping to feel her heartbeat, but to my horror, I felt nothing. With my own heart pounding two hundred beats a minute, I put my ear against her mouth hoping to feel her breathing, but I felt nothing. Without doing anything else, I positioned both of my hands in the middle of her chest and did thirty chest compressions; I tried to be gentle since she was so fragile, but I was still going quick and fast. Then I tilted her head back, pinched her nose shut, opened her mouth, and gave her two full breaths. Not in a million years would I imagine myself giving my best friend CPR.

After doing a couple more sets of CPR, I heard someone coming around the corner and when I looked up, I saw Lane. "Lane, call 911 now!" I said immediately and then continued doing CPR to Tori.

I heard him running away and I knew that meant he was going to go call. After two more sets of CPR, I put two fingers against her neck and felt for a pulse, praying to God to feel a pulse, but I felt nothing. I groaned and then gave her two full breaths. "Come on, Tor, breathe." I pleaded with her and then I gave her thirty chest compressions.

I don't know how many more sets of CPR I did before I heard sirens outside, but I still didn't stop what I was doing. I didn't stop until some paramedics ran in and took over. I stood back and watched them try to resuscitate my best friend. Tears welled up in my tears seeing this in front of me. I still couldn't get it in my head why Tori would starve herself. I could remember how upset she was when that girl said the words, "Have you lost weight?" but I told her that it wasn't true. I told her that she looked the same as she did on her first day here. I guess she either didn't believe me or didn't listen to me. Probably a little bit of both.

Eventually, they got Tori's heart beating and her breathing again. Her heart beat was normal, but her breathing was still really slow, so they put a breathing mask over her mouth and nose then loaded her in a gurney. Then they quickly rolled her out of the school and out to the ambulance. I looked out the window and saw Tori being loaded in the ambulance. The scene made me want to cry.

Even though I didn't want to, Lane encouraged me to go back to class. I didn't know how I'd be able to concentrate for the rest of the day. All I could think about was my best friend lying on the ground, not breathing and heart not beating. If I hadn't went to find Tori when she ran out of the classroom…

I shook my head. I didn't even want to think about it.

When I finally got back to Sikowitz's class, I quietly sat back in my seat. "Hello Andre," said Sikowitz.

I didn't respond to him or even look up at him.

"Did you hear the announcement?"

"What announcement?" I mumbled.

"About there being no teachers or students allowed in the hallway because of–" He was cut off by the sound of our principal over the intercom, telling everyone that we could walk in the hallways now. I had a strong feeling I knew that it was because Tori had passed out in the hallway. They make that kind of announcement when something like that happens, which isn't very often.

"That announcement," he said. "Were you in the hallway?"

I nodded.

"Where's Tori?"

I blinked a few times, not wanting to answer that question. "She's, um…" I muttered. I gulped. "She's…not here."

"Well, where is she?"

I was about to answer, but then the bell rang. So I could avoid having any more questions asked, I immediately grabbed my bag, jumped up, and ran out of the classroom. I walked swiftly through the hallway and over to my locker. As I walked to my locker, I walked past the spot where Tori had passed out. Where I caught her. Had it not been for me, she would have hit the ground. Hard. Very hard. What if she had hit her head? What if along with her sickness, she had a concussion? What if while thinking about all this, she was dying at the hospital. What if she stopped breathing again? What if her heart stopped? Oh, my God. What if I lost her? No, no, no. I can't lose her. She's my best friend. My other half. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. Tori is a beautiful girl with a beautiful soul. Why couldn't she see it? Everyone else in the whole world could.

My thoughts were interrupted by Beck, who came walking up to me. "Hey man, are you coming to lunch?"

I quickly glanced at him and looked away. "I'm not hungry."

"Well, you can still sit with us."

I shook my head. "Beck…I don't wanna be here anymore. I just…" I rubbed my hand over my eyes, hoping to stop the tears. "I don't know. I'm so worried about Tori."

Beck sighed heavily. "You know…the only time an announcement is made for all teachers and students to stay out of the hallways are when some kind of emergency happens. Coincidently, you and Tori were both out during that time. And we heard sirens right outside of the school. And Tori didn't come back." Whoa, he was observant. "So…here's what I want to know. Is Tori okay?"

"No," I told him immediately. "She…she passed out and…she wasn't breathing and…her heart wasn't beating."

"Oh, my God," he whispered.

I nodded. "And…I had to give her CPR. I don't know how long I was doing it to her before the ambulance showed up. They took over and got her breathing again and her heart to beat again. But…I don't know if she'll be okay."

"But you just said that they got her to breathe again and her heart to beat again." He reminded me. "Why wouldn't she be okay?"

"I never told you why it happened, Beck." I said. "I think…that she's been starving herself." I shook my head and roughly ran my fingers through my hair. "I should have suspected it. I mean, for the past three months, she'd been acting funny. She always seemed depressed. She always wore layers of baggy clothes, even if it was warm outside. And…I don't know, she always had this weird look in her eyes like…like she was miles away from Earth. She constantly had mood swings. She seemed to have poor judgment on everything. Her skin was blotchy. She seemed weaker than normal."

"Wow," said Beck after a moment of silence. "Now that you bring it up, I think I can see it now. She was acting that way. Also…she was never at lunch anymore. She told us she was finishing up homework, but I think that was a lie."

"Of course it was a lie, Beck." I told him. I rubbed my hands on my face. I wiped away a few tears from my cheeks. I didn't even realize that I had been crying. "I can't believe I didn't get this before. I mean, she showed every single sign of anorexia. I was so stupid to not realize it."

"Andre, you're not stupid." he told me firmly. "And it's not your fault. These things just happen."

I shook my head. "No, it doesn't. Things happen for a reason. You know why this happened? Three months ago, a girl asked Tori if she'd gained weight. From that moment on, she believed that she really had gained weight when she didn't."

"Of course not," whispered Beck.

"And now…she's sick." I couldn't tell you what else I said. I don't really remember. I was too hysterical. I was just rambling on and on and on about Tori and how worried I was about her and how I should have noticed those symptoms. I know it's wrong to hate people, but I couldn't help it. I hated the girl that asked her if she had gained weight. How dare she hurt my best friend like that? And now because of that, Tori may never be the same again.

I would never forgive her for that.


	9. Denial

**Usually I update every other day, but since class is starting this coming Monday and I want this story to be fully posted by then, I thought I would be nice and give you guys an update today! Depending on my breaks during Welcome Week at my college will depend on when I update. And I'm on break now, so…yeah. And I know some of you were asking for an update, so here it is!**

**Alrighty, enjoy! :)**

Tori's POV

I felt like I was in a dream. I heard a million voices around me, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I tried to listen to what they were saying, but I just couldn't get it. The only thing I was sure of was that I didn't recognize any of the voices.

The next thing I knew, I felt something run across my cheek. I blinked a few times, not quite ready to open my eyes fully yet. "Tori?" I heard someone say. It sounded like my mom. "Baby, wake up,"

I moaned a little and then finally I opened my eyes. I was staring into my mom's eyes. "Mom?" I mumbled.

"Hi, baby," she whispered and leaned down and kissed my forehead. "How do you feel?"

"Okay, I guess," I said and looked around. It looked like I was in a hospital room, but I couldn't tell. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital." she said and tucked some hair behind my ear. "Do you remember what happened?"

I thought back to what happened and I suddenly remembered everything. The last clear thing I could remember was standing at my locker and wanting to get my apple out of my locker, but I was too dizzy to get it out. Then Andre came over to me and tried to get me to tell him what was wrong with me, but I couldn't even tell him what I wanted from my locker because of my dizziness. That's the last thing I remember. I gulped and looked back up at my mom. "Yeah…I remember,"

She ran her hand over my head. "Well…were you aware that you were sick?"

"No," I said. "I know that I felt sick though."

My mom sighed shakily. "Honey, you…well…you," She sighed shakily again. She seemed like she didn't know how to say the words she was trying to say. "Based on how you've been acting and…what we told the doctors about your exercise and eating habits…" She hesitated. "Tori, you're anorexic."

My eyes widened at hearing that word. "What?" I screeched out. I slowly shook my head. "But…no. There…there's no way. I…I can't be; I've just…it's just been a diet."

"Honey, you've hardly been eating and you exercised yourself to the maximum for a long time." she told me gently. "And today…your body gave out. It couldn't take what you were doing to it." She just looked at me for a moment before shaking her head and saying, "You nearly died today, Tori."

"What?" I whispered.

She nodded. "After you passed out at school, you weren't breathing and your heart wasn't beating, so…Andre gave you CPR and continued to do so until the paramedics arrived and took over. Honey, if it wasn't for Andre, you probably wouldn't be here right now."

"Oh, my God…Andre?" I said shakily. She nodded. "But…but what about the paramedics? Weren't they the ones who actually saved me?"

"No, sweetheart, it was Andre." she said. "Yes, they were the ones who got you breathing and your heart to beat again, but it would have been too late if Andre hadn't done what he did. He saved your life."

I gulped. "But…but I'm okay now?" I don't know how I could ever repay Andre for what he did.

"Yeah, you're okay,"

I let out a sigh of relief. "Good," I reached up and tried to run my hand over my face, but my hand caught on something strapped to my face. I realized it was nose prongs. I sighed and put my hands to my side. "So when can I go home?"

"Oh…probably not for a while."

"Why not?" I asked. "I feel fine now and I've got to get home so I can do some working out. I haven't had the energy in the longest time, but I need to push myself. That's what it takes to lose weight."

As I was saying those words, my mom's face looked like she wanted to cry. She said, "Tori…did you not hear what I just said? You're anorexic and it's unhealthy at how skinny you are. I will not allow you to exercise. Right now, instead of focusing on losing weight, we've got to focus on you gaining some weight."

"Mom, I think I would know if I'm anorexic or not and I can guarantee you that I'm not." I said. "I've just been tired a lot lately is all and I'm not too skinny. In fact, I need to lose some more weight. I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and I can assure you that I didn't look skinny. I don't know where you're getting the hint that I'm too skinny."

She looked at me confused at first, but then her face softened up. "You really believe that, huh?"

I nodded, hoping it meant she would let me go home. "Yeah, I really do."

She sighed. "Okay," She leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Honey, there's someone who wants to talk with you."

"Who?"

"Just wait here," she said and walked out of the room.

She returned a moment later, but this time, someone was with her. It was a lady about her age and she looked really nice, but also like she meant nothing but business. My mom gestured towards her and said, "Tori, this is Dr. Sullivan."

"Hi Tori," said Dr. Sullivan.

"Hi," I said crossing my arms.

"Would it be okay if I talked to you for a few minutes?" she asked sweetly.

I hesitated and then was about to protest, but my mom gave me a look that told me I better say yes to this lady or else. I sighed and looked at her. "Yeah," I said quietly.

She pulled up a chair and sat it by my bed and then set down in it. My mom stayed in the room, but she sat on the other side of the room. "So, Tori, how about you tell me what's been going on?" started off Dr. Sullivan, getting comfortable in the chair.

With my arms still crossed, I said, "I've just been trying to lose some weight."

"Yeah, well, it seems like you've been going about it in a very unhealthy way." she said gently. "Did you ever talk with your parents about trying to lose weight?"

"No," I said. "I didn't need their approval. I know what I'm doing."

She sighed. "And yet here you are in a hospital bed." she said in a gentle tone of voice. "Tori, your mom showed me pictures of you just weeks before any of this happened and you weren't fat whatsoever. She tells me that you've always been a small girl and that you've never worried about your weight before. What made you worry about that all the sudden?" The way she was talking to me told me that she was a therapist.

I gulped. I didn't wanna tell her about what that girl said to me, so I just said, "I don't know, I just…I looked at myself in the mirror one day and decided that I was bigger than I wanted to be. That's what I think now. I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and I looked like I needed to lose some weight." I looked at my mom. "But my mom tells me that I'm apparently anorexic, which I'm not; I know I'm not. I will admit that this diet has been really extreme, but I haven't been starving myself."

She sighed. "When's the last time you ate?"

It had really been a few days, but I said, "Yesterday,"

"And what did you have?"

"An apple," because that was the last thing I had eaten.

"Okay and when is the last time you had some protein?"

I tried to think of the last time I had some meat or protein, but I couldn't recall eating protein since forever ago. So I said, "I honestly don't remember."

She asked me a handful of questions about my health and what I had been eating and I answered her to the best of my memory. Talking with this therapist really made me feel like a crazy person, but I wasn't crazy.

After talking with her, she had me get out of bed and look at myself in the mirror in the room. She stood behind me and said, "Now, Tori, what do you see when you look in the mirror?"

I made an odd face expression and said, "I see my reflection."

"And is there anything about your reflection that is different than it used to be?"

I looked at every visible part of my body and, to me, I saw a girl that needed to lose weight. I still saw fat on my body. "Yes,"

She softly smiled. "And what is that?"

"Fat is on my body." I looked at my chubby looking legs. "I need to get this weight off of my body somehow."

My mom sighed and walked over to me. "Tori, you can't honestly tell me that you see a fat girl in this reflection, can you?"

"Yes, Mom, I do," I said and looked at her. "As crazy as it sounds, but I don't see myself the way you guys apparently do. I'm not skinny." I walked around them and laid back in bed. "Once I get out of here, I'm gonna go back on my diet and neither one of you can stop me."

**So…as you can see, Tori is not admitting that anything is wrong with her. She needs help. Which she will get. Just keep reading to see how it all turns out!**

**So now, I'm going to respond to all of the reviews I got the last chapter. If you reviewed for chapter 8, keep reading!**

**xpeebles9x: **thank you! And I'm updating sooner than I did and I hope you like this chapter.

**Jmags-WriterofAwesomeness: **I know I already PM'd you, but I just wanna thank you again for all your kind words on this story. And just like I said in my PM, if you haven't already, you should check out the Tori Takes Requests video of just Tori and Andre :)

**Penguingirl2002: **Thanks for the review! And yes I know it's long and yes, I know that the name of the story is the same of the One Direction song. That's where it from. Keep reading to see where it all fits in. :)

**CrazyThang: **Honestly, your review really made me smile! I'm glad you like it! And I'm glad you've liked the other stories I've posted! It means a lot to me!

**JustTrustMe: **I know I've already PM'd you, but I just wanna seriously say thank you soooooo much for your kind reviews on all of my stories and for all your help on fanfiction. Honestly, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be posting this story or any of my others. You really helped me out and you have no idea how thankful I am of that. You're a really good friend. :)

**Guest: **Thank you! Everything is going well so far. And yeah things are about to get crazy busy. But just know that this story and the sequel to this story is completed; it's just a matter of posting it. So if I go too long without updating, you can always review and tell me to get my butt to my computer and update! Haha :)

**davidr11: **Thanks! Did you like it:)? And Tori is going to get better from here on out.

**Born Into Flame: **Thank you again for your nice words! And I should check out that book you told me about! :)

**cheysma2000: **Yeah, I'm a fan of Bori too, but just the Bori friendship. That's why in almost all of my stories, I put some kind of sweet little interaction between Beck and Tori.

**jazzy2297: **Thank you for your review! I'm glad you like this story! :)

**GinnyBloomPotter: **Thank you so much! :)

**TandreIsAmazing: **:) yeah I love the fact that it's Andre who saved her life. That's the point of the story :) And the worst is over for Tori (for this story anyway)

**Ehh what's my pen name again: **First of all, I just wanna say that I love your pen name, haha! It's cute and clever! :) And you'll get to hear some more of their reactions next chapter!

**Alright, that's it for this chapter! Again, keep the reviews coming! I love getting an email saying that someone has reviewed!**

**Until next time…**

**:)**


	10. Beautiful

**Chapter 10! Get excited, guys, because this is probably my favorite chapter! Well, this one and the one after this one. Let me know what you guys think. ;)**

**By the way, in chapter 8, I noticed a typo that's really bugging me. When Andre is sort of talking to himself about how worried he is about Tori, I meant for him to say, talking about the other girl, "Have you gained weight?" but I accidentally put "Have you lost weight?" Yeah, I don't know how I missed that. Sorry I just had to say that, haha.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction.**

Tori's POV

As it turned out, my parents really could stop me from continuing my diet. I left the hospital a few days later, but I didn't go home. I was taken to a rehabilitation center. I was in the worst mood when I was taken there. "So you're just gonna drop me off at this place like I'm some psycho killer?" I exclaimed. "I'm not crazy!"

"We know, Tori." said my dad gently. "You just need a little more help than what we can give you."

"That's just a fancy way of saying that I am crazy!" I practically yelled. "Why not you just say it?"

My parents just glanced at each other and continued to drive to the rehab place. I sighed and leaned back against my chair and then looked out the window. I made myself a promise right then that I wouldn't listen to anything these people at the rehab center told me, no matter what. They could put me in a group therapy session, individual therapy, or any other type of "healing" program they had, but I knew that none of it would faze me. I had my mind set that I would just wait it out here for a while and then once I was able to go back home, I would continue to lose the weight that I needed to lose. The only thing that ran through my head was, "No one understands me."

Just as I suspected, I was forced into group therapy sessions and also individual therapy. I mainly just sat there and didn't respond to people when they talked to me. I knew that I was the trouble patient from how the workers and other patients looked at me, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get out of this awful place and go home. It wasn't a mental ward that I was in, but it sure did feel like one.

They couldn't force me to eat, but they really encouraged me to. I still had it stuck in my head that I had to lose weight, so they gave me low-calorie, low-fat foods to suffice me. I had five to six small meals a day, but I picked at them constantly. I had to have someone watch me during my meals to make sure I didn't lie about eating. They would also sit with me for at least thirty minutes after I ate to make sure I didn't go make myself throw up my food. I tried that once after thirty minutes, but once food has been in your stomach for a certain length of time, there's not much you can make yourself throw up. I could feel myself getting bigger and I didn't like it one little bit. I cried myself to sleep every night.

One of the good things about that place was that I had so much privacy. I didn't have a roommate, which meant I had a whole room to myself. Another good thing was that they let us go outside daily; in fact, they encouraged it. I know it doesn't sound like much, but when you've been cooped up in a place you despise all day, it feels amazing to walk outside and feel the sun on your face and to have the breeze go through your hair. I was more relaxed outside than I was inside.

My family visited me daily, but I didn't talk to them much. After all, it was them that put me in here in the first place. The only person I talked to on a regular basis was Trina. She would visit me every day after school and we would talk small talk for an hour or two. I never realized how lucky I was to have a sister until I was forced to be away from her. I always hated to see her go.

I had been in the rehab center for two weeks when I had my first non-family visitor. I was sitting on my bed reading a book when I heard a knock on my door. I sighed, thinking it was probably a worker, and said, "Come in," I looked up and it wasn't a worker who opened the door.

It was Andre. I hadn't seen him since he saved my life.

I gasped and put my book aside. Andre and I just stared each other for a moment, but then he started to come closer to me. When he sat on the edge of my bed, I leaned towards him, wrapped my arms around his neck, and cried my eyes out. He tightly wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him. I didn't realize how much I missed him until this moment.

I cried for another few minutes before finally recovering. I pulled away from Andre and sat back against my bed. I looked up at him and smiled softly. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course," he said. "Sorry it took so long to come visit you here. I just didn't know how you were doing or even if you wanted visitors."

"It's cool." I looked around the room for a moment, trying to think of what to say, but then I thought of the perfect thing. I sighed heavily and looked back at Andre. "Andre?"

"What's up?"

"Thank you,"

He looked at me confused. "What for?"

I chewed on my lip for a second before saying, "For saving my life,"

"Oh," he said with a smile and looked down. Then he looked up at me and said, "I'm not gonna lie, Tori, it was the scariest moment of my entire life."

"Yeah and I'm sorry about that." I told him. "That couldn't have been an easy thing to go through."

"It wasn't," he said immediately. "But believe me, it was worth it. Those few minutes were terrifying, but it's nothing compared to how it would be if you weren't sitting here right now. I just thank God every day that I knew what I was doing that day."

I smiled and then leaned forward and gave him another hug. "That's the sweetest thing anything has ever said to me." Then we pulled apart. "Thanks,"

"You're welcome," he said and then looked around the room. "So…having fun here?"

I groaned and said sarcastically, "Yeah, it's just great." Then I sighed and said, "I would give anything to leave this place. I hate it here."

"When are you allowed to leave?"

"I have no idea." I said. "But probably not anytime soon. They swear up and down that I'm still super thin, but when I look in the mirror, I just don't see a skinny girl."

"But…you are really thin." he said slowly.

I sighed heavily. "Andre, I'm staying here for people to tell me that every single day. Now I don't need you telling me that as well."

"Okay, I'm sorry." he said. "But can I ask you quick question?"

"I guess."

He cleared his throat and said, "Do you think you're beautiful?"

I narrowed my eyes and said, "The truth?"

"Yeah, the truth,"

"No," I said. "I think I'm ugly. That's why I went on this crash diet; I wanted to prove to people that I can be beautiful. I just needed to lose some weight to do that."

He looked at me odd. "You really don't see yourself as being beautiful?" I shook my head. He looked off into space, as if thinking of something to do, and then his eyes widened and a smile spread across his face. "Hang on, I'll be right back." He jumped up off my bed and ran to the door.

"Hey, wait, where are you going?" I asked frantically. I didn't want him to leave.

"To my car," he said and ran out of the room. "I have to do something."

I sighed heavily and sat back against my bed. I had no idea what Andre's idea was.

About thirty minutes later, when I thought Andre had ditched me, he finally came back in, but this time, he had his guitar with him. "Is it okay if I shut this door?"

"Uh, yeah, it is my room." I told him. "It's not like I killed anybody."

"Just making sure," he said and closed it. He walked over to me and sat on my bed. He pulled the guitar strap around him and got it in place to play. "Sorry it took so long."

"Yeah, what were you doing anyway?"

"Writing a song,"

I rose my eyebrows. "Writing a song? You can write a song in like twenty minutes?"

"Not normally, but this one is different," he said. "It's a really special one."

"Okay," I said confused.

He softly smiled and then pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket. He unfolded it and laid it in front of him. He started to play a few notes on his guitar and before I knew it, he was singing.

_You're insecure, don't know what for_

_You're turning heads when you walk through the door_

_Don't need make-up to cover up_

_Being the way that you are is enough_

_Everyone else in the room can see it_

_Everyone else but you_

_Baby, you light up my world like nobody else_

_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed_

_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_

_You don't know, oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_If only you saw what I could see_

_You'd understand why I want you so desperately_

_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe_

_You don't know, oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful, oh-oh_

_That's what makes you beautiful_

_So, girl, come on_

_You got it wrong_

_To prove I'm right, I put it in a song_

_I don't know why you're being shy_

_And turn away when I look into your eyes_

_Everyone else in the room can see it_

_Everyone else but you_

_Baby, you light up my world like nobody else_

_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed_

_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_

_You don't know, oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_If only you saw what I could see_

_You'd understand why I want you so desperately_

_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe_

_You don't know, oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful, oh-oh_

_That's what makes you beautiful_

_Na, na, na, na, na, na, naa_

_Na, na, na, na, na, na, na_

_Na, na, na, na, na, na, naa_

_Na, na, na, na, na, na, na_

_Baby, you light up my world like nobody else_

_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed_

_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_

_You don't know, oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_Baby, you light up my world like nobody else_

_The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed_

_But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell_

_You don't know, oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful_

_If only you saw what I could see_

_You'd understand why I want you so desperately_

_Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe_

_You don't know, oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful, oh-oh_

_You don't know you're beautiful, oh-oh_

_That's what makes you beautiful_

Once Andre finished singing, he looked at me and smiled. "You are the most beautiful girl in the whole world." He took the guitar off of him and set it on the ground. Then he grabbed the paper and folded it back up, putting it in his pocket. "I just wish you could see it."

Andre's song made me want to cry. I didn't know what to think about it. All I know is that while I was listening to that song, I could literally feel something click in my brain. Was I really as skinny as everyone told me I was? Was I really as beautiful as Andre was making it seem?

I was so confused, but I still couldn't stop myself from getting out of the bed and walking over to my mirror. The girl looking back at me wasn't me. I saw a girl who was deathly skinny with a pale face and circles around her eyes. I saw a girl who had a blotchy face. I saw a girl whose close were literally just hanging off of her body. More than anything, I saw a girl who was extremely sick with anorexia.

The girl was me. I, Tori Vega, had anorexia.

"Oh, my God," I whispered and pulled my hands to my mouth. "I did that to my body?"

"Yeah," whispered Andre and walked up behind me. He put his hands on my shoulders and rubbed up and down. "But you're here to get better."

I let out a sob. "Andre," I turned to him. "I've been here for two weeks and they haven't helped me at all. You come visit me and sing one song for me. That one song did more for me that these people could ever do."

He looked at me confused for a moment and then said, "Wait a minute…my song made you better? Like completely?"

I nodded.

"Oh, my God…so you don't think that way anymore at all?"

I shook my head. "When I just looked in the mirror, I saw a super skinny girl. I don't know why the heck I saw a girl who was chubby. There is like no fat on my body at all." I softly smiled. "I love that you sang that song to me."

He slowly smiled at me. "I was just speaking the truth, Tori."

"Thank you," I said and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his around me, but I heard him slightly gasp. I pulled away and looked at his face. "What's wrong?"

He gulped. "Tori, I can feel every single bone in your back."

"I know," I said shakily. I walked around him and sat down on my bed. "Sorry…I just couldn't look at myself in the mirror anymore." I shook my head. "I just can't believe that's me. When I was little, I promised myself that I would never wind up this way. How could I not see what I've been doing to myself?"

"I don't know," he said. "Words have a way of getting into people's brains and messing with them."

I nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "You know, Andre…the girl who said those words was a big part in this, but…no one can make you do anything. It wasn't her who made me do this to myself. It was all on me. I have control of my own body and I was slowly destroying it. I can't blame her for this."

"But if she had never said that, none of this would have happened."

"But it did happen, Andre," I said gently. "And it's okay. Trust me, I'm gonna get better. I don't wanna be sick anymore."

"And I know a good way to start." He reached out behind him and grabbed something. He turned to me and handed me a sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap. Since when did he have that in here?

I stared down at the sandwich, heart pounding extra hard in my chest. "Andre, I–"

"I know, I know," he said gently. "But this is a step towards getting better. You need to eat it."

"You sure it's healthy?"

He cocked his head to the side. "Tori, come on, you could probably use a cheeseburger or two. That sandwich is the healthiest thing I could find in the cafeteria. I actually saw a cheeseburger in there, but I felt like that was too much."

"Yeah, I probably wouldn't even be able to finish half of it." I said and looked down at the sandwich. "I'm just not used to myself eating very much." I took a deep breath and then started to take the wrapper off of the sandwich. After another moment of silence, I brought it to my mouth and took a bite of it. I slowly chewed it and swallowed it. Andre was watching me intently.

I ended up finishing the whole sandwich and by the time I was done, I was full. I looked up at Andre and saw that he was smiling from ear-to-ear. I giggled and said, "Why are you smiling so wide?"

"Do you realize that this is the first time I've seen you eat that much in over three months and actually keep it down?"

I laughed. "Good point there,"

I never realized what a turning point it was when I ate a simple sandwich.

Andre's POV

I walked out of Tori's room feeling happier than I'd ever felt in my whole life. I couldn't believe that I'd written a full song in less than thirty minutes. Used to, I couldn't even write something worth listening to in one hour. I'd never had that kind of inspiration before. Every single word in my song to Tori was one hundred percent truthful. The words flowed perfectly and there was no hesitation as I was writing the words down on paper. And the fact that my song for her made her completely better. Seriously? That's like…better than a dream come true. I was so happy I couldn't contain myself.

"What are you smiling about?"

I brought myself out of my own thoughts and saw Trina looking at me confused. I smirked and said while pointing at her, "You better love me."

She looked at me like I was crazy. "And why is that?"

"Because I, Andre Harris, got your little sister, Tori Vega, to eat a sandwich." I said that statement with so much pride it wasn't even funny.

Trina's eyes looked like they wanted to pop out of her head. Her jaw dropped and she covered her mouth with her hands. After a moment of silence, she removed her hands and said, "Are you serious?"

"Yep," I said and smiled.

"How?" she exclaimed. "She's been here for two weeks and barely eating anything anyone gives to her. How in the world did you get her to eat a whole sandwich?"

"I have my ways." I told her still smiling.

She reached out and punched my shoulder. "Ow," I said and rubbed my shoulder. "What was that for?"

"I've been coming here every day for two weeks and it breaks my heart to see how skinny my baby sister has gotten. I would have given anything to make her better and to have her eat something." She sighed shakily. "I can never get her to eat anything. I've got to know how you did it."

"I'm sorry," I said. "And…I played a song for her,"

She raised her eyebrows. "A song?"

"Yeah," I told her. "I wrote a song for her, played it, and it made her realize that what she's doing is bad."

"A simple song did that?" she asked in shock.

"Yeah, even I'm amazed," I said. "The look on her face after I finished singing told me that she was better. It was plastered over her face. She instantly regretted what she did to herself. But…I was still shocked. I asked her if it really made her better and she said yes."

"Wow," said Trina and shook her head. "I will never understand you and your music and I never have, but…thank you for doing that." She took a step forward and gave me a hug.

"No problem," I said while hugging her back.

We came out of the hug a moment later, said bye, and we went our separate ways. On my way to my car, I thought to myself, "Trina never hugs me…she must really love her sister."


	11. No Comparison

**Based on all of your lovely reviews, it seems like that most of you thought that last chapter was your favorite. But I have a strong feeling that you'll love this chapter just as much or even more than the last one. It's probably my favorite. :)**

** And seriously, thank you guys SO much for all the amazing reviews! When I read one of you say that this story is amazing or that you want me to update soon, it makes me so happy, like you don't even understand. Reviews are what keeps me going! :) Speaking of which, I'm at 85 reviews now and I'm hoping I can get to 100 by the end of the story. That would be amazing! So just keep all the reviews coming! I love hearing your feedback! :)**

** And btw, this is the second to last chapter, so…the next one I post will be the last one. But I've got a long sequel, I think around 75,000 words, that I think you guys will like.**

** Okay, onto the chapter! :)**

Tori's POV

Since I finally realized what I was doing to myself, I didn't need to be in that rehab center anymore. I had to stay there for another couple of days just to prove to them that I knew I was too thin and that I promised them I would work every day to gain my weight back in a healthy way. Once they believed me and knew for sure that I was better mentally, I signed out of the center and was able to go home. That first night back in my room was incredible. My bed had never felt so comfortable.

At this point, it was the end of April, which meant there was only a month before school was let out and I'd already missed almost a month of school work, so I knew it would be impossible to get caught up in time. I decided that I wouldn't go back to school since there was no point in it, but once summer hit, I would finish out my junior year through homeschooling and then when August came around, I would start my senior year with all my friends as if none of this ever happened.

From the day I came home from the rehab center, I started to eat more and more and I was slowly gaining my weight back. I ate six times a day and each meal was hearty and healthy. I went to bed satisfied and full every night. It was a great feeling. I never realized how much I missed food. I was now obsessed with eating food. It was so good.

My family and friends were very supportive of me, especially my family. They only had one problem: they couldn't believe how with just one song, it would come to my attention that I was anorexic and that I needed to gain weight. I told them that I wasn't sure how it happened either, but Andre's song was so inspiring that it pushed me in the direction that I needed to go in. I was thankful every day that Andre wrote that song for me.

It frustrated me how they couldn't just get over the fact that I was better. They were so used to me practically hating food and they couldn't believe that I was suddenly in love with it. I just kept explaining to them that Andre's song made me see the truth.

My frustration was released when I went to eat with my family one day in the middle of May. I was still skinny, but not as bad as before. People would still look at me and I hated that more than anything. It made me feel insecure. I thought it was kind of ironic how I was insecure just a few months back, thinking I was too fat, but now I was insecure because people thought I was too skinny. It was an interesting change in pace.

We went out to eat at an Italian restaurant on one Saturday afternoon. I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt to try and hide my skinny self. While I was ordering, my parents and Trina looked at me suspiciously, wondering what I was gonna say. I surprised them by saying, "I'd like the spaghetti with meatballs."

The waiter got everyone else's order and then he walked away from the table. My family looked at me for a moment until I looked up at them. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing," said my mom. "It's just…it's the first time we've seen you order something that big in a long time." She wasn't lying about that. This restaurant's spaghetti and meatballs was huge. I was hungry and I knew that I would eat until I was full, but I knew for a fact that I wouldn't eat the whole entire meal. My stomach had practically shriveled down to nothing during those three months of my eating disorder.

"Yeah, I know." I said with a smile and I didn't carry on the conversation anymore.

When our meals finally arrived, I slowly began to eat my food. It was really weird, even though I loved food and loved eating it, there was always that moment right before eating that made me nervous. It was a habit for me to be nervous before eating. I was having a hard time breaking that habit.

Usually my family and I talked a lot while eating, but not this time. Finally, I looked up and saw that my family was staring at me in a weird way. I put my fork down and stared up at them. "Okay, what's up? Why won't you guys stop staring at me?"

"Tori, it's just unbelievable." said my mom. "We can't believe that one day, you hated food and then the next day, you loved food…all from just one song."

"Me neither, but have you guys heard the song?" I asked and they shook their heads. "It's a pretty incredible song."

"Yeah, I'm sure it is, but still." said my dad. "It's a little unbelievable."

I eyed him. "What are you saying?"

He sighed heavily. "All I'm saying is…well, we spent a bunch of money for you to try and get better at a rehab center and it didn't do any good at all and yet just hearing one song written by your best friend does make you better."

"So?" I said. "What's your point?"

My parents looked at each other, not knowing what to say, but then Trina just shook her head and blurted out, "We don't think you're actually better."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Here I was eating with them and yet they still didn't think I was better. I was livid with anger. "Really?" I exclaimed. "Here I am eating with you guys and I eat at home six times a day. You see that I'm finally starting to gain my weight back and you still don't believe me?"

My dad quickly stood up and walked up to me. "Tori, would you relax?" he said in a strained voice. "We're out in public." He looked around, as if he was afraid people were staring at us.

People were watching and I didn't care. "No, I will not relax." I argued back. "How could you guys not believe me? I'm sorry it was something as simple as a song that got me better, but it was. Can't you just accept it and move on?"

They all glanced at each other before looking at me once again. "We just…we think that since it was from something so simple that something just as simple could make you go back to the way you were." explained my mom. "We want you to be healthy."

"But I am healthy!" I exclaimed. Now I could really feel people staring, but I still didn't care. "I promise you I am! And I'm not gonna go back to the way I was! Maybe it was something as simple as a song that changed me, but what's the difference? It changed me and I'm not going back to my previous ways, not ever."

"Honey, we believe you, but–" started off my mom.

I interrupted her by saying, "Obviously you don't or you wouldn't have voiced your opinions." I walked around my dad.

"Whoa, where are you going?" asked my dad.

"To the bathroom," I said and continued to walk that way. Just seconds later, I felt someone grab my arm. I looked back and saw it was my dad. "Let go of my arm." I said angrily.

"Don't go to the bathroom." he whispered. "Especially not right after eating,"

I giggled dryly. "Oh really? Now you think I'm a bulimic?" I yanked out of his grip. "It's nice to know how much my own family trusts me." They still didn't know about the one time I actually did throw up after eating. No one knew about that. I chose not to tell anyone about it because it's something that only happened once and something that I was positive would never happen again.

I walked into the restroom and locked myself in the biggest stall. I walked up to the farthest wall and slid down it and sat down on the floor crying. My family had wanted me to gain my weight back for so long and now that I finally was, they didn't even believe that I was better.

I sat there for the longest time before someone came in the bathroom and knocked on my stall. My head was in my knees which were pulled up to my chest, so I couldn't tell who it was. All I said was, "Occupied,"

I heard an angry sigh and then someone came in the stall anyway. I looked up and saw that it was Trina. "Only for you would I crawl on a disgusting bathroom floor." she said as she sat next to me.

"What do you want?" I said and turned away.

"Tori, we're sorry," she said. "We didn't mean to make you feel upset."

"Yeah, well, you did."

She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's just…a song? How could a simple song save you?"

I sighed in aggravation and turned back to her. "Have you heard the song?" She shook her head. "Well, maybe if you heard it, you would understand why it saved me."

"Can you sing it now?"

"No," I said. "I'm not singing a song that special in a bathroom." I stood up. "Come on, let's go finish eating and then we can go to Andre's house."

"Why?" she asked as we stood up.

"So he can play the song," I told her. "Besides, I haven't heard it since he first played it for me. I would probably mess up the lyrics anyway."

Trina walked out of the bathroom and over to our parents. I sat down at my place and continued to eat my spaghetti. I said, "After this, we're gonna go to Andre's house so he can play that song for you then you'll know what a big deal it was for me."

"Okay," said my mom quietly and we all finished eating in silence.

Once we finished, we paid out and left. As I was getting in the car, I pulled my phone out and called Andre. He picked up after the second ring. "Hey, Andre, it's me," I said. "Can my parents and Trina and I come to your house for a sec?"

"Uh…why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because they don't believe that your one song could make me better." As I said this, I glared at my parents. They just looked away. "And I figured that if you played it for them that they would understand how great of a song it is and why it made me better. If you're busy, we can come back another time; I just really want them to hear the song sometime."

"Oh, no, it's fine." he said. "I'm actually not doing anything right now. I'm here at my house all by myself extremely bored. You guys can come over now if you want."

"Oh, okay," I said. "Thank you so much."

"No problem,"

I smiled. "We'll be there in a little bit."

"Alright, see you then,"

"Bye," I said and hung up. "Okay, let's go to Andre's house."

My dad started the car and we drove to Andre's house in silence. Once we arrived, I got out of the car and walked up to Andre's door once my family had gotten out of the car. I rang the doorbell and we waited.

A moment later, the door opened and it was Andre. I smiled at him. "Hey,"

"Hi," he said with a smile and looked at my family. "Hey guys."

"Hello Andre," said my dad. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," he said and then opened the door wider. "Come on in."

"Thanks," said my dad and we walked in his house. We all walked in his living room and Andre sat down in a chair next to his guitar. My parents and Trina sat on the couch while I sat in a chair on the other side of Andre.

Andre picked up his guitar and put the strap around him. "Okay, the song's called 'What Makes You Beautiful' and I wrote it in probably twenty minutes." He quickly smiled at me and then looked down and started to play the notes to the song. Then he was singing the song.

My family watched Andre sing the song while I watched their reactions. Trina had a very solemn look, my dad had a very sympathetic look, and my mom looked like she wanted to cry. Even though I was watching their faces, I was still listening to every word Andre was singing. The song was even more amazing than I remembered. My favorite lines were "Baby, you light up my world like nobody else" and "If only you saw what I could see, you'd understand why I want you so desperately."

After he finished, he put the guitar down. "That's the song." he said. "When I played it for Tori, I didn't intend for it to make her better, but I'm sure glad it did. I was just playing my feelings."

"Well, Andre, it's a beautiful song." said my mom. "And…I know this is a little overdue, but…thank you so much for saving her life. I'm forever grateful for that."

I softly smiled while Andre said, "You're very welcome. I'm happy I did it."

My mom nodded once and then looked at me. "And Tori?"

"Yes?"

"I can see how that song would make you better."

"Yeah, me too," said Trina.

"Me, three," said my dad. "We're very sorry we didn't believe you, but we do now. We will never doubt you again."

"Thank you," I told them.

For the next few minutes, we sat there and talked with Andre, but then it was time to go home. My parents and Trina said bye to Andre and walked to the car. I told them I would just be a minute; I had to say my own private goodbye to Andre.

Once we were alone at the porch, I looked at Andre with a smile. "Thank you so much for letting us come over."

"Oh, it's no problem," he said. "I was happy to do it. So…did they really not believe that my song could make you better?"

"Well…they believed it, but since it was something so simple that made me better, they assumed that I would snap and go back to my ways of wanting to lose weight." I told him. "But I assured them that there's no way that could happen. Sure, it was something so simple that changed me, but I'm so thankful it did."

"Me, too," he said.

"So…" I said with a smile and took a step closer to him. "Do I really light up your world like nobody else?"

He giggled and nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am, you do,"

"And…" I got a tad bit closer to him. "Do you really want me so desperately?" My heart was pounding out of my chest and my hands were shaking badly.

He bit his lip nervously, but then he nodded. "Yeah…I do,"

I didn't know what else to do, so I just looked down at my shaking hands. I usually never felt this flustered around guys. I didn't know what was wrong with me.

Before I knew it, Andre had wrapped his arms around my waist. I slowly looked up at him. He smiled at me and then pulled me in closer and kissed me. It took me about a second to kiss him back and that's when I put my arms around his neck. Of course I'd kissed other guys before and it felt nice, but there was no comparison to kissing Andre. A million butterflies erupted in my stomach and my heart started beating in my throat. What made the moment even more incredible is that the reason why my heart was beating was because of Andre, literally. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for him.

After we pulled apart, we kept our arms around each other and just stared into each other's eyes. "Does this mean we're a couple now?" he whispered.

I shrugged. "I guess it does." Then I sighed heavily. "Promise me something, Andre."

"Anything, sweetheart," he whispered. "Anything,"

"If this relationship doesn't work out, promise me that we'll still be friends," I said. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

He nodded. "I feel the same way." he told me. He moved his hands from my waist up to my face and caressed my cheeks. "But we'll be fine."

I simply smiled and kissed him again. I could definitely get used to this.


	12. From Where I Stand

**Good morning/evening/night, wherever you are! It's morning where I live and I'm so tired right now! But I just love you guys SO much that I had to post the last chapter for you guys! I can't believe that I reached 100 reviews! That's amazing, thank you guys so much! An extra special thank you goes to TandreIsAmazing, who gave me review #99 and #100! Thank you so much; you are too sweet! :)**

**Alright, now onto the last chapter! It's a sweet chapter and I hope you like it! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own "From Where I Stand" by Max Schneider.**

Tori's POV

A couple weeks later, I was hanging out with Andre in his room. His family trusted us, so it was okay. All we were doing was lying down in his bed watching TV with my head against his chest. It was nice just to be in his arms.

In the middle of a commercial, Andre said, "So are you glad that Trina will be out of the house?" Just an hour before, it was Hollywood Arts' graduation ceremony and since Trina was a senior, she graduated. It was crazy that she would be moving out of the house in just a few short months.

"You know, I thought I would be, but…I don't know if I am anymore." I sighed shakily. I had bawled my eyes out when I hugged Trina after the ceremony was over. "Maybe Trina can be annoying, but she's still my sister and I love her."

"Yeah, I know," he said. "I feel the same way about my sister."

I giggled and looked up at him. "But your sister is three years younger than you are."

"Still," he said. "It was hard a few years ago when Olivia moved away." Andre had two sisters; a younger one and an older one. I knew the younger one really well, but had only seen the older one a couple of times. "I'll feel the same way in a year when we graduate."

"Man, that's so crazy to think about." I said and moved my head from his chest to his shoulder; I put my hand against his chest. "I can't believe I missed the last little bit of my junior year."

"Ahh, it's okay," he said nonchalantly. "It doesn't matter. You'll get caught up this summer."

"Yeah, but…it's my fault that I missed it." I said. "I would give anything to go back and change what happened."

"Tori," whispered Andre and he pulled my face to his and kissed me gently. "Just let it go. It happened, but it's over. It's behind you where it'll stay and besides, you're getting healthier every single day."

I softly smiled and said, "Yeah, it's just…I'm ready to move on from it, but…I think about it every time I eat. I try not to, but I can't help it."

"Just give it time," he told me. "Soon, it'll only be a distant memory that you hardly ever think about."

"I can't wait for that day."

Suddenly, Andre said, "Oh, I almost forgot!"

I set up and looked at him. "Forgot what?"

He slowly smiled at me. "I have a song I wanna sing for you." He got out of bed and grabbed his guitar from the corner of the room. He came over and sat back down on the bed. "I wrote this after I went home the day I sang 'What Makes You Beautiful.' So it kind of corresponds with that song. It has the same message to it."

"Aww, you're too sweet." I told him. "But…I'm already better. You don't have to sing it if you don't want to."

"But I want to," he told me instantly. "I think you're gonna like it."

I smiled. "Well, alrighty then. Sing away."

He smiled and then got his guitar tuned and then he started playing it. And then he was singing.

_Whoa-oh-oh_

_Whoa-oh-oh_

_Whoa-oh-oh_

_Turn to the side and see what the mirror sees_

_The mirror's just reflecting insecurities_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful_

_Just staring down at the faces you see in magazines_

_Don't let them change the girl that's in front of me_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful_

_So don't hide your stars_

_I want all you are, oh-oh_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful, oh-oh-oh_

_So don't change a thing_

_Other girls mean nothing, no_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful, oh-oh-oh_

_Open your eyes and see the way I stare at you_

_You turn away and blush cause you don't think it's true_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful_

_N-n-no_

_You think you don't compare to those celebrities_

_I look around, but you're the only star I see_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful, oh-oh-oh_

_So don't hide your stars_

_I want all you are, oh-oh_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful, oh-oh-oh_

_So don't change a thing_

_Other girls mean nothing, no_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful, oh-oh-oh_

_Perfect's overrated_

_And the beauty's understated_

_But you got, you got, you got_

_You got it all_

_So don't you be mistaken_

_Love ain't ever faded_

_Cause you got, you got, you got_

_You've got it all_

_Whoa-oh-oh_

_Whoa-oh-oh_

_So don't hide your stars_

_I want all you are, oh-oh_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful, oh-oh-oh_

_So don't change a thing_

_Other girls mean nothing, no_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful, oh-oh-oh_

_Whoa-oh-oh_

_Whoa-oh-oh_

_From where I stand, you're beautiful_

Half way in the middle of the song, I started crying. When he completely finished and had set his guitar down, I was bawling. Andre immediately wrapped me up in his arms. "It's okay." he said gently. "Shhh, it's alright."

When I finally got to where I could talk, I said, "Andre, that song….oh, my God. So beautiful,"

It took like five minutes for me to fully recover. As I was wiping my cheeks dry, Andre rubbed my shoulder and said, "Why did you cry if you said it was beautiful?"

I sniffed and looked at him dead in the eye. "Andre…the most beautiful things in the world makes me cry. Like when you left, after you played 'What Makes You Beautiful' for me for the first time…I was sitting on my bed crying for thirty minutes. I couldn't get over how beautiful the song was. Plus…I was ridden with guilt from what I'd been doing to my body."

"Well…it's okay now." he said, not knowing what else to say. "You're getting better."

I softly smiled at him. "Thank you, Andre." I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his neck. He put his arms around me as well. "You're amazing to write those two songs for me."

"You're amazing too." he said when we pulled apart. "From where I stand…you're the most beautiful girl in the world."

I giggled. "Wow, you're so cheesy. But sweet. Thanks, babe." I quickly kissed him. "Anyway, speaking of which…well, not speaking of which at all, but…" I got off the bed and stood next to it, looking down at Andre. "I'm hungry!"

He laughed. "You're hungry?"

"Yeah!" I exclaimed. "Let's go eat something! What do you say?"

He got out of bed with a smile on his face. He put his hands on either side of my face and kissed me fully but sweetly. Andre certainly knew how to treat a girl. His mama raised him right. "Heck yeah, let's go get a cheeseburger. And you have no idea how amazing it is for me to hear you say those words."

**And there you have it, guys! The complete story of "What Makes You Beautiful!" I really hope y'all enjoyed it! And if you did enjoy it, you should check out the sequel to this story that I'll try to post within the next couple of weeks. It's called "Moments" and yes, the title comes from the One Direction song. I suggest y'all listen to the song! It's an important part of the story! :)**

**Okay, until next time…**

**:)**

**-Marishka12**


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